Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has invoked the Emergencies Act to end blockades at border crossings, which have been occupied by individuals protesting the country’s pandemic-related restrictions, including vaccine mandates. It’s the first time in Canadian history this specific Act has been used.
Trudeau noted that the Emergencies Act is temporary and geographically-targeted, and will use “reasonable and proportionate” measures to end the “illegal” blockades and occupations, such as those at Ambassador Bridge and in Ottawa. The Act will be in place until the blockades have been cleared, said Attorney General David Lametti.
The Emergencies Act will provide law enforcement around the country with additional tools to end the blockades, including a strengthened ability to impose fines and imprisonment. The Act is also designed to “protect” critical infrastructure, including those at border crossings and airports.
Trudeau clarified that the Emergencies Act will not call in the military, will not suspend the fundamental rights of Candians, and will not limit freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and the right to protest legally.
The use of the Emergency Act is “last resort,” according to Trudeau, as the ability to end the blockades in such a manner requires additional tools “not found” in provincial or territorial law.
“Responsible leadership requires us to do this,” Trudeau said. “The time to go home is now.”
On Sunday 13FEB, police reopened the Ambassador Bridge, a busy border crossing between Windsor, ON and Detroit. Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) confirmed that the crossing was reopened, but also recommended against non-essential travel. Elsewhere in the country, blockades continued at border crossings in Coutts, Alberta and Emerson, Manitoba.
The Emergencies Act, which replaced the War Measures Act in the 1980s, defines a national emergency as a temporary "urgent and critical situation" that "seriously endangers the lives, health or safety of Canadians and is of such proportions or nature as to exceed the capacity or authority of a province to deal with it."
Justin Trudeau’s father and former Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau, famously invoked the War Measures Act for the first time during “peacetime” in 1970, during the “October Crisis.”
